Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale

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Sir Herbert Stanley
Succeeded bySir Campbell Tait
Personal details
Born
Charles Evelyn Baring

29 September 1903
England
Died10 March 1973(1973-03-10) (aged 69)
Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
  • Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

    • Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale,

    Governor of Kenya from 1952 to 1959. Baring played an integral role in the suppression of the Mau Mau rebellion.[1] Together with Colonial Secretary Alan Lennox-Boyd, Baring played a significant role in the government's efforts to deal with the rebellion, and see Kenya through to independence. Baring was aware of abuses against Mau Mau detainees. He was elevated to being the 1st Baron Howick of Glendale
    in 1960.

    Education and early career

    Baring followed in the footsteps of his father, the famed "Maker of Modern Egypt"–– Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer. Baring went to Winchester College and then to New College, Oxford, graduating from Oxford University with First Class Honours in Modern History before serving in the Indian Civil Service. He then joined Britain's Foreign Office, where he was sent first to Southern Rhodesia before being posted in South Africa as High Commissioner.[2]

    Seretse Khama

    In 1949, while serving as High Commissioner for Southern Africa, Baring played a key role in preventing Seretse Khama, the heir to the throne of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, from assuming the throne; doing so on the ground that Khama's marriage to a white woman, Ruth Williams, was opposed by the white-minority government of South Africa, a neighbouring state which had recently implemented a system of racial segregation known as apartheid.[3]

    Working in close collaboration with Percivale Liesching, who was serving as Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Affairs at the time, Baring was able to persuade government ministers to prevent Khama from assuming the throne of Bechuanaland, instead mandating him to stay in a government-imposed exile in London, which lasted until 1956.[3]

    Governorship in Kenya

    Further information:
    Mau Mau Uprising

    As Governor of Kenya, Baring declared a State of Emergency on 20 October 1952 before launching Operation Jock Scott, which targeted alleged Mau Mau leaders, especially Jomo Kenyatta.[4] Baring's administration created the "dilution technique", a system of assaults and psychological shocks to detainees, to force the compliance. Baring requested and received approval to use "overpowering" force from the Colonial Secretary in London.[5]

    In June 1957, Baring passed on to

    Alan Lennox-Boyd a secret memorandum[6] written by Sir Eric Griffiths-Jones, the Attorney General of Kenya, which described the abuse of Mau Mau detainees. The paper alleges that Baring supplied a covering letter that asserted that inflicting "violent shock" was the only way of suppressing the Mau Mau rebellion.[6]

    Career after Kenya

    Baring left Kenya in 1959. He was elevated to the

    Colonial Development Corporation.[7]

    Marriage and children

    Baring married Lady Mary Cecil Grey, daughter of the 5th Earl Grey and Lady Mabel Laura Georgiana Palmer (daughter of the 2nd Earl of Selborne), on 24 April 1935. They had three children:

    Lord Howick of Glendale died from injuries sustained in a climbing accident on 10 March 1973, at the age of 69. He was climbing a cliff on his estate when he slipped and fell 15 feet. He was succeeded in the barony by his son, Charles.

    Honours

    Arms

    Coat of arms of Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale, KG, GCMG, KCVO
    Coronet
    Coronet of a Baron
    Crest
    A Mullet Erminois, two of the points resting on the pinions of a pair of Wings conjoined and elevated Argent.
    Escutcheon
    Azure, on a Fess Or, an Eastern Crown Azure, in chief a Bear's Head proper, muzzled Or.
    Supporters
    Dexter: A Tiger guardant proper, gorged with an Eastern Crown Or.
    Sinister: a Lion guardant Purpure, crowned with a Ducal Coronet Or, and gorged with an Eastern Crown Or.
    Motto
    DE BON VOULOIR SERVIR LE ROI
    (To serve the King with goodwill)
    Orders
    Order of the Garter circlet (Appointed 23 April 1977)

    Family tree

    References

    1. ISBN 9781847922946
      .
    2. ISBN 9780002164573
      .
    3. ^ a b Williams, Susan (2006). Colour Bar: the Triumph of Seretse Khama and his Nation. London: Allen Lane.
    4. ^ Leander (7 November 2013). "The longest state of emergency in Kenya ends". South African History Online. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
    5. ^ "British Mau Mau abuse papers revealed". BBC News. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
    6. ^ a b Cobain, Ian; Walker, Peter (11 April 2011). "Secret memo gave guidelines on abuse of Mau Mau in 1950s". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
    7. ^ Elkins, Caroline (2005). Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya. London: Pimlico. p. 364.


    External links

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Evelyn Baring.
    Government offices
    Preceded by Governor of Southern Rhodesia
    1942–1944     		Succeeded by
    Preceded by
    Sir Philip Euen Mitchell
    Governor of Kenya

    1952–1959     		Succeeded by
    Diplomatic posts
    Preceded by
    British High Commissioner to
    South Africa

    1944–1951     		Succeeded by
    Peerage of the United Kingdom
    New creation Baron Howick of Glendale
    1960–1973     		Succeeded by
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